win or lose
by fall from stars
Summary: DRABBLE—In poker, you don’t always have winners and losers. [Axel & Roxas friendship]


**A/N: **Yay, badly implied Axel/Roxas! This was my first dabble into the two together for an LJ friend of mine who writes the best Axel/Roxas you'll ever read. This can be looked at as a friendship fic if you really want it to be, and a yaoi fic if you want it to be too. Either way, it's fluffity fluff fluff! So watch your step if you don't want to end up eaten by cotton candy.

**Win or Lose**

Axel knew from the very beginning that it was a bad idea to send Luxord and Roxas on that mission together. When he came back all he could talk about was this game called poker and how he needed to get better at it. "I'm going to beat Luxord one day!" he had exclaimed, choosing to ignore Axel's rolling eyes. "I'll be the best player there's ever been!"

And here they are now playing in the dead of night on an abandoned table in the World That Never Was. Above them neon lights flicker and empty fires still churn out smoke, clouding up an otherwise clear, strangely warm night.

"I see your fifty munny and raise you another twenty-five," Roxas offers with a small smirk playing across his lips. Axel leans back in his chair, whispering curses underneath his breath. Roxas is still a newcomer to the game and he has no right to be this good. He glances back at his crown-shaped cards, curses Lady Luck to the deepest darkness, and looks up at Roxas.

"I don't have that much," he admits at last, looking at Roxas with hopeful eyes. He's convinced the blond to lessen the bets throughout the game. He doesn't see why he wouldn't be able to do it again.

"Well, it's not like you _had_ to buy me these cards," the thirteenth boy says at last in a cool voice, his face impossible to read.

"I only bought them so you'd shut up about Luxord not letting you borrow his," the redhead snaps in protest, summoning a flame to float above his fingertips. "See if I ever do anything nice for _you_ again."

"Just pay up," Roxas demands impatiently, holding out an expectant hand.

"Fine." Axel finds a tea-stained paper and dull pencil underneath a street lamp and begins to write down his debt. _I.O.U. 25 munny. Axel._ He folds it in sloppy thirds and throws it at his friend, his opponent. "Happy now?"

The paper flies through the dead air and into the blond's open hand. Roxas takes one look at the piece of paper and his laugh resounds through the empty streets.

"That isn't going to cut it," he says in a singsong voice. He's been hanging around with Demyx a lot the past couple of weeks, Axel remembers, and then decides to keep Roxas a little closer over the next week or so.

"Just take it, Roxas," Axel says impatiently, halfheartedly trying to capture a moth within his fingers. He'd rather end this now instead of prolonging his inevitable loss. "It's all you're going to get. What've you got?"

Roxas clears his throat proudly, adapting an accent that would make people think he'd been born in Port Royal. "So please your Majesty, a royal flush," he smirks, laying the cards down on the table.

"Cheater," Axel growls at him, throwing his mismatched straight in hearts on the table. The cards scatter to reveal a king, a queen, a jack, and an eight. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You shouldn't underestimate me," Roxas says with a victorious smile. He scoops the munny orbs towards him, his face shining with his newly acquired wealth.

"Yeah, I shouldn't," Axel grumbles moodily. "Now I'm totally broke."

Roxas bites his lower lip in a guilty way, looking back up to Axel. He's shocked that he feels bad about Axel's misfortune. _You and me_, Roxas thinks. _We're not supposed to feel anything, are we? _

_But for me, it's different with you._

"Well, if you want," the winner proposes, "we could split it."

"Really?" the loser asks, a smile coming across his face.

"Sure. I can't let you starve, anyway," Roxas says with a laugh, tossing the munny orbs to him. "You're skinny enough."

Axel prepares an insult that's fiery and fierce on his tongue, but then he sees Roxas' face. _There's a real smile there_, he thinks to himself, amazed. With Roxas you have to do so much to earn a real smile. No Organization member has ever been able to consistently put forth the effort for Roxas' smile, except for Axel. They all laugh at him for trying, but he knows it's always worth it.

"Thanks," Axel says gratefully, humbled for once in his phantom life.

"Anytime," Roxas says with a smile, gathering up the cards and shuffling them, switching aces with twos and making losers winners.

A/N: Awww, look, they're so happy together thatthey've _got_ to be OOC. Now leave a review if you feel like it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
